Tupac’s iconic THUG LIFE tattoo and his impactful activism is a huge theme in this cinematic story. Directed by George Tillman Jr., “The Hate You Give” follows the life of a young black girl named Starr Carter, played by Amandla Stenberg, who find herself stuck between the black and white worlds around her.
The first scene in the movie features Starr and her brother Seven, played by Lamar Johnson, as they are sitting in the dining room table getting “the talk” from their father Maverick, played by Russell Hornsby. This talk is not regarding the birds and the bees like most children receive, but rather the talk young black people get to try and ensure their survival when they encounter a cop. Hornsby’s performance in this scene perfectly delivers the impactfulness of this situation and sets up the movie’s depiction of the Black Lives Matter movement.
Starr’s character development is was a long cringy battle with a fake portrayal of a modern day teenager, but as the movie progresses following her battle to be an advocate and a voice in this movement you see her maturity surface. Stenberg believably plays a young girl who griefs the lost life of her friend and doesn’t quite understand why this is happening.
Screenwriter, Audrey Wells, doesn’t fail to capture the opinions of both sides of this conflict and the unwillingness for either side to communicate with one another. This gives the audience a chance to learn for themselves why this situation has gotten out of hand.
Towards the end of the film the THUG LIFE theme comes back full circle. As Tupac said, “the hate u give little infants fucks everybody,” meaning that generation after generation children are unknowingly taught to hate the other side. “The hate WE give” as the movie states is the reason this problem continues. This film brilliantly acknowledges that this issue isn’t one sided. This is not just the white cop’s fault or the victim’s fault—this matter is not black and white.
